The iPhone isn't 4G, so you won't see more than 3G speed with it. If you're gonna bash AT&T 4G speed, at least reference a 4G phone and the speeds that it gets rather than point out T-Mobile/Verizon 4G and compare it to AT&T 3G.

I ran a speed test on the Inspire and got 3.2mbps down with three bars, easily double the fastest I've seen my iPhone get, 1.7mbps. Still not 5mbps, and definitely no LTE, but 1-2mbps isn't 4G speed, if you're getting those speeds you're connected to 3G whatever your phone is telling you.

Also, compare the iPhone to the Veer, which AT&T also claims is a "4G" phone.

That's not really my point, though.

My point is: the fact that AT&T and T-Mobile consider HSPA to be 3G and HSPA+ to be 4G is all kind of a sham. They're not two different technologies. They're not two different networks. They are two very slight variations of the same technology, on the same network. Yes of course HSPA+ is faster, but the real scam is that - so far - AT&T has disabled HSPA+ mode on most of its "4G" phones.

So yes, your Inspire may be operating at HSDPA 14.4 compared to the iPhone's HSDPA 7.2, and in many cases may download faster, but upload is another story, and neither phone is operating in HSPA+ mode.

Point, the upload speed difference is about 100kbps, and that can vary enough to not matter at all. And I agree, HSPA+ is more 3.5G than anything, but it is what it is. I'm going to wait and see what happens regardless... its not *my* Inspire. What it comes down to now is that its all marketing, after all, 4G sounds a lot better than 3G, and how the hell could 3.5G compete, it has "disclaimer" written all over it.

the hspa + phones will not work on LTE when it comes out for att. you guys can wait for it... i think the iphone 5 will be on att lte i think that's why they pushed it back for fall roll out. I was reading about TRUE 4G...its called LTE advanced... Its still in a testing phase in Japan... it can download 1 G a min... I was like WTF!

everyone else told you were wrong, but in case you're still unsure, you're wrong. NONE of the at&t "4G" phones will work on the LTE network later this year, as none of them have the necessary LTE antennas and radios installed.